Secretary Review
By Joe Lozito
Submission Statement
There was a game show in 1979 called "Three's a Crowd" which pitted a man's wife and secretary against each other to determine which one best knew the man. The obvious question should have been: "who would want to know any man who would bring his wife on this show?" Happily (and surprisingly), the show itself was a bust, lasting only one season, but the sting of the idea lingers.
Twenty years ago, "Secretary", writer-director Steve Shainberg's darkly comic tale of S&M in the workplace, might have been seen as a statement against the very jealousy-inducing instincts that spawned that absurd game show. In the age of sexual enlightenment and its corresponding harassment, however, the film plays more like a quaint throwback to a simpler time, though it takes place in present day Florida.
The film in reality, however, has little to do with sexual interplay in the workplace. Without giving too much away, the subtly subversive undertone of "Secretary" is that we are all in relationships in which we are by turns dominant or submissive. Mr. Shainberg's characters simply act their feelings out physically. Are they, therefore, any better or worse than we are? Happily, Mr. Shainberg doesn't attempt to answer that question, he just explores his clever conceit in ways that are typically humorous, only occasionally melodramatic and almost never dull.
The film is driven by the interplay between the characters of the boss and the secretary and both performers give tremendous performances. James Spader has been playing quiet sociopaths for years, but in this film, Mr. Spader is able to exercise neuroses I'm not sure he even knew he had. From his first appearance, it's obvious something is wrong with this guy. The depths of his psychoses are slowly and consistently developed over the course of the film until a finale which states in no uncertain terms: "hey, he's really not so different from any of you".
The 'S' to Mr. Spader's 'M' (or vice versa depending on how you look at it) is Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Just released from a mental institution, Lee is almost magically drawn to apply for a job at the law office of E. Edward Grey (Mr. Spader). Slowly it becomes clear that these two characters are meant for each other. This is a star-turn for Ms. Gyllenhaal who can channel both the brooding angst of her brother Jake (the reigning cinematic king of adolescent agony) and the spunky pep of a "Joe vs. the Volcano" era Meg Ryan. The actress is given a lot to work with in Mr. Shainberg's script and she attacks it with relish.
Mr. Shainberg has created a film that plays as a parable about the inner workings of relationships and, while he doesn't draw any conclusions, he almost stubbornly avoids making any statement at all with the exception of "what're you looking at?" He raises a great many interesting questions about abuse, sexual harassment and office politics, but he leaves them out there for the audience to ponder. While I'm glad he didn't create a 'message movie', his methods leave the movie feeling a little vague about its own beliefs. It's a small misstep in a film which is otherwise firmly in touch with its inner demons.
